No more sugar!

My insides feel rotten. I'm not being hyperbolic. I really feel like my tummy is fermenting. Gurgle, gurgle, grrrr. I'm sitting out back with my first stack of summer reading and some hot water. 

Not that I needed the kettle, it's 82 and sunny. The grass is teeming with life, but I absolutely feel like death. Today was the last official day at work for the school year and between the stress, bs and coming home and eating a bunch of figs, sugar and goat cheese, I'm thinking bed might be the most appropriate place for me this evening. I'm trying to suck it up- pretty ironic that I have to force myself to bask in the sunshine with good books... But I shall.

Dinner will be some kitchari and I might even mow the lawn... What delightful possibilities. :p Now back to the books.

Figs with goat cheese

I had company. Company that I wanted to impress, so I did what any sane culinary infant would and 'invented' an appetizer. I didn't come up with it completely on my own. I knew I wanted to stuff some fruit with goat cheese and bake it, but everything called for bacon and seemed like far too much work. So, I combined theories from multiple recipes and came up with dried figs acting as a vessel (actually looking like little boats) for goat cheese, almonds and brown sugar. Wicked good. Added a sprig of rosemary to a couple- even tastier and served them to my omnivorous date with a little prosciutto. I won't lie- special occasion, so I partook in some prosciutto :) Nice mix of salty, sweet and sour. Huge fan of the textures as well. Also made some chocolate ganache: agave, cocoa powder, coconut oil and salt. Scrumptious and creamy. Served it with fruit.

In other eating news, I made a new batch of kitchari and it is freaking GOOD. Veggies du jour: broccoli, carrots and rhubarb. Tasty.

The scale is the lowest it's been. Stoked.

Keeping up the hot water, kombucha and kitchari. Excited about making a compote out of the rest of the rhubarb and cut fruit.

Detox day #2

So I may have had a little brown sugar on Saturday as I got some batches of tea ready for kombucha brewing.

Other than that, I was pretty clean.

Took a ten mile bike ride down one of my favorite stretches of country highway.

Had tea by the garden.

And ate this for brunch.

In addition to kitchari, I had almonds and a snack of almond butter mixed with honey and eaten with veggies.

The scale is down this morning and I'm not feeling overwhelming cravings despite all of the fast food and sweets posted all over my Facebook newsfeed.

Tea & blankets

No coffee since Wednesday. The only caffeine I've had is coming from kombucha, but the odd thing is the blinding withdrawal like headache is visiting today (Sunday). Grr.

Lucky for me, I really didn't want to do housework anyway. So, I hunkered down with some reading, tea and a blanket and managed some folding and another load of laundry between Father's Day dinner at my parents' and bed. Dinner was nice. They did simple BBQ fare: hamburgers, hotdogs, Mexicans, sausage, roasted peppers, corn on the cob, salad, Mac salad, chips and watermelon. It was a special occasion, so I ate meat. I'm super proud of myself for not touching the macaroni salad or the potato chips. Dessert was my grandmother's lemon merengue pie- I had a slice without the crust. It was my large cal meal since brunch was kitchari and almond butter with honey.

For dad :)

Today I did lots of hot water and some cumin, coriander and fennel infusion. Kitchari for lunch, stuffed summer squash for dinner (stuffing is squash, garbanzos, mustard greens, basil, oregano, rosemary and garlic). I only ate the stuffing, so good.

I snacked on some almonds and had some almond butter and honey pre dinner and my evening snack:

My new favorite. Airpopped popcorn with olive oil, nutritional yeast, paprika and brown sugar.

X squared

The previous post was last edited on November 19th...

So, let's catch up.

In December my biggest Christmas gift was my second round with the flu this year. I lost 10 pounds in six days and came out of it so starving that I decided to start eating everything again.

Gluten and meat and dairy, oh my. The eating got worse and with it the eating problems. Food expenditures on take out and ice cream this past month have been outrageous. I'm up about 13 pounds from my lowest and feel like garbage. So, I'm making a commitment to give up some things and welcome in others- a little dietary negotiation.

Bye-bye list:

Prepackaged foods

Dairy

Gluten

Potatoes

Coffee

Sugar

Sugary fruits

All meat except for special occasion list

Special Occasion list:

Duck

Ham

Jamón (there's a difference)

Steak

Seafood

Welcome list:

Beans

Rice

Vegetables

Bitter flavors

Spices. Lots of spices.

My digestive track needs a break... So does my budget.

My first culinary adventure on this new path is kitchari.

I found recipes for this Ayurvedic staple on websites dedicate to Ayurvedic eating- healing yourself by balancing your constitution (pitta, vata or kapha) with easily digestible food.

So, what did I eat today?

Kitchari: this weeks' recipe is basmati rice, mung beans, cumin, coriander, mustard seeds (brown and yellow), cinnamon, fennel, ginger, kombu and seven cups of veggies. I used leeks, carrots and mixed sprouts.

I sipped on hot water all day and an infusion of coriander, ginger, cumin and fennel. Things sure smell interesting around here.

Dinner consisted of:

2 egg omelette with spinach, onions, garlic and thyme and carrot purée with nutmeg, ginger and cloves. I snacked on air popped popcorn earlier, dressed with olive oil and nutritional yeast.

I officially said goodbye to all of the XLs in my life as of March- I gave my last item, my favorite Banana dress to a dear friend ... And welcomed in more of the letter M. One of this summer's adventures is learning how to sew. I'm eager to see how I do with the first three one seam dresses and blanket I have to begin with and how the measurements stack up as I start my first pattern. I like the letter m. Looking forward to kicking L completely out of my life.